Halophiles have been commercially significant for centuries, with the earliest recorded case being that of ancient China and Middle East, where reddening of solar salterns as a result of growth of halophilic microorganisms was used as a biomarker of successful salt production (DasSarma et. al 2009). Today the role of halophilic organisms in salt production has evolved to facilitate rapid evaporation of salt crystals due to increased absorbance of light by their red-purple pigments. The purple membrane of the halophilic archaea that enables them to grow phototrophically and carry out phototactic responses contain the light-driven proton pump, bacteriorhodopsin, and sensory rhodopsins. Molecules like bacteriorhodopsin are especially of industrial interest because they are stable over a wide range of temperatures, usually between 0◦C and 45◦C, and pH values, usually between 1 and 11 (Ventosa and Nieto 1995). Moreover, the reactions of bacteriorhodopsin can be manipulated genetically, chemically or immunologically and are self-regenerative. Therefore, the ability of these biomolecules to convert the energy from light to chemical energy in a non-chlorophyll system has various industrial applications. For one, bacteriorhodopsin can be utilized as light sensors and for optical data processing or nonlinear optics. It is currently also being proposed for producing erasable photochromic film (Hampp et. al 1992). Furthermore, bacteriorhodopsin can also be used as a light sensor as they
There are two main types of chlorophyll, chlorophyll a which absorbs wavelengths of 430nm (blue) and 662 (red) and is the main photosynthetic pigment, and chlorophyll b, which doesn’t directly participate in the photosynthetic process, but is capable of donating its energy to chlorophyll a
When life arose on Earth about 4 billion years ago, the first types of cells to evolve were prokaryotic cells. For approximately 2 billion years, prokaryotic-type cells were the only form of life on Earth. The oldest known sedimentary rocks found in Greenland are about 3.8 billion years old. The oldest known fossils are prokaryotic cells, 3.5 billion years in age, found in Western Australia and South Africa. The nature of these fossils, and the chemical composition of the rocks in which they are found, indicates that these first cells made use of simple chemical reactions to produce energy for their metabolism and growth. Eukaryotic cells evolved into being between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago. Eukaryotic cells appear to have arisen from prokaryotic cells, specifically out of the archaea. Indeed, there are many similarities in molecular biology of contemporary archaea and eukaryotes. However, the origin of the eukaryotic organelles, specifically chloroplasts and mitochondria, is explained by evolutionary associations between primitive nucleated cells and certain respiratory and photosynthetic bacteria, which led to the development of these organelles and the associated explosion of eukaryotic diversity. Today Prokaryotes
Although Salt to the Sea is a story about things that have been lost and people enduring extreme hardships, it is also a story about hope, family and love. In the book Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, almost all of the main characters go through extremely tragic and terrible events. However, these characters also experience family moments and happy times. Despite the fact that in times of war there is hardship, violence and death, love and family shines through the tragedy. It is the two youngest members of the group, Klaus and Emilia, who eventually find a family to love.
World War Two resulted in a chaotic destruction that overwhelmed Europe. These feelings of dismay are concisely summarized in Ruta Sepetys’ Salt of the Sea.. An impactful quote states, “war had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray.” The war in 1945 had drained any and all feelings of hope and spirit out of European people. In it’s wake, the war left a cloud of devastation and despair. Florian and Joana have to overcome this war, their fate, and guilt in order to return to their past selves and survive their journey in a German and Russian warzone.
In photosynthesis H+ ions are vital in the production of the energy source that is ATP, which is used in several metabolic processes, such as respiration. The photolysis of water produces H+ ions, electrons and O2. The excited electrons lose energy as they move along the electron transport chain, this energy is used to transport the H+ ions (protons) in to the thylakoid, which causes a higher concentration of H+ than there is in the stroma, thus causing a proton gradient across the membrane. The H+ then proceed to move down the concentration gradient into the stroma via the enzyme ATP synthase. The energy from this process is called chemiosmosis and combines ADP with inorganic phosphate (Pi) to form ATP. Light energy is then absorbed by photosystem I (PS I) which excites the electrons to a higher energy level. These electrons are transferred to NADP with H+ ions from the stroma to form reduced NADP. The whole of this process is
In this lab, the organism that we have been working with is the bacterium, Serratia marcescens. S. marcescens is a member of the Enterobacteriaceae family, and tends to grow in damp environments. S. marcescens is an ideal bacterium to work with in the lab because it reproduces quicker than other bacterium. This bacterium produces a special pigment called prodigiosin, which is red in color. The prodigiosin pigment is intensified when S. marcescens is grown at higher densities. During our experiment, temperature, pH, salinity concentration and oxygen requirements were tested on S. marcescens to measure their optimal growth and prodigiosin production.
86. Carotene is a yellow or orange pigment that serves as an accessory to chlorophyll during
Many historical fiction novels recall well-known tragedies, but there is one novel in particular that tells the story of a covered catastrophe. Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys focuses on telling the unknown story of “the greatest maritime disaster in history,” the sinking of a German ship, the Wilhelm Gustoff, during World War II. Throughout telling the story, Sepetys portrays the theme of perseverance, as the characters face many challenges, but never give up. Despite the growing popularity of this novel, Sepetys did not gain her reputation from Salt to the Sea. Rather, she became the author she is today from her previously published novels, Between Shades of Grey and Out of the Easy. Septeys was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, but she is part Lithuanian. Growing up in the United States allowed Septeys the ability to attend Hillsdale College, where she received a bachelor’s degree in international finance. Like many others, I learned of Septeys’ work through her other novels. I have read both Between Shades of Grey and Out of the Easy, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Because I enjoyed her other works in a great deal, Salt to the Sea immediately made my “to-read” list. For this project, I knew I wanted to read a novel I would enjoy, and Salt to the Sea was sure to not disappoint.
In the pGLO Bacterial Transformation lab, Escherichia coli is transformed with a gene encoding green fluorescent protein by inserting a plasmid containing the GFP gene, beta-lactamase, and arabinose into the bacterium. Successfully transformed bacteria will grow in the presence of ampicillin and glow a bright green color under ultraviolet light. The sugar arabinose is responsible for switching on the GFP gene in the transformed cells, without it, the gene will not be expressed.
Microscopic organisms known as cyanobacteria are interesting for the following reasons: [SELECT ALL THAT APPLY] Select one or more: A. Oxygen produced by their photosynthesis is thought to be responsible for the "great oxygenation event" about 2.3 billion years ago. B. The methane they produce is a greenhouse gas that could have helped warm the early Earth, helping to resolve the Early-faint-Sun paradox. C. The chloroplasts that carry out photosynthesis in green plants are evolutionary descendents of early cyanobacteria. D. They are known to be the earliest forms of life on Earth.
The Effect of Salt on Radish Seed Growth along the Nelson River in Ensi county, Indiana.
In our hypothesis we stated that only the container containing all of the components +pGLO, LB broth, ampicillin, and arabinose would be the one that genetically transformed. In order for the bacteria to grow at a rapid pace all it needed was LB broth but when you added ampicillin, an antibiotic, it killed off all of the bacteria. +pGLO has the gene to resist the antibiotic so when that was added it was allowed to grow but there was no sugar to turn on the glowing protein. Finally, after arabinose, a sugar, was added it turned on the switch located in the +pGLO for the fluorescence and enabled to grow and glow.
Chloroplasts are important photosynthetic organelles that present in plant cells. It is believed that chloroplasts evolve from an endosymbiotic event; engulfment of a photosynthetic cyanobacterium by a large heterotrophic host cell (1, 2). During this process proteins in the cyanobacterium has been transferred to the nucleus and also the proteins that are essential for organelle biogenesis has been transferred to the cyanobacterium making it dependent on the host. Although chloroplast proteins have estimated to consist of 3500-4000 different types of polypeptides, the protein coding capacity in chloroplast genes is approximately 200 polypeptides (3, 4). This data further suggest that most of the proteins found in chloroplast are encode by nuclear genome and transport to the chloroplast. At least, a few proteins are use secretory pathway in which first targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum and then transfer to the chloroplast through vesicles (5-7).
“Salt, A World History,” is an extensive aspect of world history by Earth’s one edible rock - salt. The book begins at the start of recorded history, and highlights humanity’s dependence on salt, up to roughly present day times. It focuses on the effect salt had on, and its contributions to, humankind. The book details how salt affected, economics, religion, science, and culinary practices all over the world.
Photosynthesis is a vital process that autotrophs use to transfer light energy into chemical energy. Photosynthesis ultimately produces O2 and glucose. It, like many other biological processes, can be affected by environmental variables. The variable that we altered in the following experiment are intensity, light wavelengths, and pigment types. In order to do this, we conducted three experiments. In the first experiment, we examined the effect of light intensity by placing vials with chloroplasts with DPIP at different light distances in which the results varied. Initially, 30cm away was the most effective for photosynthesis. Then 24cm appeared to be the most effective. Followed by 49cm at minutes 25 and 30. In the second experiment, we